DND is continuing with its efforts to transform the dockyard waterfront at CFB Esquimalt into a modern site for the 21st century. The existing “A” and “B” Jetties at dockyard are more than 70 years old and are well beyond their originally-intended service life. While they have served the navy extremely well, the condition of these jetties is such that they need to be replaced by structurally sound, larger and more versatile berthing facilities for the Royal Canadian Navy’s current and future Pacific Naval Fleet.

The A/B Jetty project is synchronized with Canada’s National Shipbuilding Strategy that will deliver modern ships to the Royal Canadian Navy over the next 30 years. CFB Esquimalt will be home to several of these Canadian-built vessels and, upon completion of the project, the new A/B Jetty facility will be capable of simultaneously accommodating up to four Halifax-class frigates, two new Arctic/Offshore Patrol Ships, one new Joint Support Ship and one Victoria-class submarine.

The A/B Jetty Recapitalization Project is divided into three phases. This approach is meant to ensure that critical site preparation work is done first and that one of the two jetties will be operational over the duration of the project.

Esquimalt Harbour Remediation Project

The Esquimalt Harbour Remediation Project (EHRP) was initiated to address harbour seabed sediments that had been contaminated by historical commercial and military operations. After significant investigation work, several areas of the harbour seabed have been identified as priority sites that merit proactive environmental remediation work. Under the EHRP, DND will remediate the seabed areas adjacent to the navy’s “A”, “B”, “C” and “Y” Jetties and the contaminated areas of Lang Cove. Separate remediation projects, underway or being planned for the future, have or will address additional contaminated seabed areas in Esquimalt Harbour near “D” Jetty and “F/G” Jetty, as well as the recent cleanup by Public Services and Procurement Canada adjacent to the Esquimalt Graving Dock.

Jamie McPherson, chairman of Camosun’s plumbing and pipe trades, called Seaspan’s donation “an invaluable tool not just for our department, but other trades.”

The model creates a “safe environment to learn some of the skills needed to be working on a bulkhead,” McPherson said at an unveiling ceremony on Tuesday attended by more than 80 people.

A bulkhead is like a dividing wall in a ship or on a plane.

Students will be learning how to work in confined spaces while at school, rather than on the job.

The bulkhead is part of the massive trades initiative at Camosun, which saw a $30-million trades building open in February and a $5-million campaign launched to renovate and update two existing trades buildings and buy new equipment. Western Economic Diversification also contributed $2.56 million to boost trades and manufacturing at the college.

The Government of Canada is investing in the ship repair industry and supporting the economic prosperity of the Greater Victoria region.

The Honourable Judy M. Foote, Minister of Public Services and Procurement, today announced the completion of key projects and upcoming investments aimed at modernizing the Esquimalt Graving Dock, the largest deep-sea shipbuilding and repair facility on North America's West Coast.

Joined by representatives from the Esquimalt Graving Dock, Minister Foote highlighted the results of projects totalling over $150 million, including the completion of the waterlot remediation project, which saw the removal of almost 100 years of contamination, the replacement of high- and low-voltage cabling at the south substation and the replacement of the electrical supply on the north landing wharf.

Minister Foote also announced investments of an additional $100 million in modernization projects over the next three years to replace and upgrade the electrical distribution system, to refurbish the dewatering pumps and to reconstruct the south jetty. These projects will restore berthing space that was lost during the renovations allowing for greater operational capacity of the Esquimalt Graving Dock.

Multiple projects have been, or are being, tendered under the Procurement Strategy for Aboriginal Business. This initiative aims to increase federal contracting opportunities for Aboriginal businesses.

Quick Facts

The Esquimalt Graving Dock has been used for the repair and maintenance of military and civilian vessels since 1927.

Three of the four stages of the waterlot remediation project were completed by Aboriginal businesses through the Procurement Strategy for Aboriginal Business, for a total of $33.7 million.

The Esquimalt Graving Dock is estimated to support over 1,300 direct jobs, mostly in the Capital Regional District, with 90% of these jobs being full time.

Over the last four years, the modernization projects at the Esquimalt Graving Dock created around 75 jobs.

It is estimated that the total gross output and gross domestic product impacts of the Esquimalt Graving Dock on the British Columbia economy are $432.2 million and $200.3 million respectively.

The amount of material removed during the waterlot remediation project (approximately 180,000 cubic metres) would have filled up to 70 Olympic-size swimming pools. To protect the site moving forward, the Esquimalt Graving Dock has put in place stringent environmental safeguards, including monitoring of the seabed sediments and fish habitat.

The addition of a third $15.8-million electrical substation at Esquimalt Graving Dock is a significant improvement vital to the economic future of the dock and its safety, director Stafford Bingham said Monday.

“Without them we wouldn’t be safe to work here; this is huge,” said Bingham. The federal government announced funding for the substation at the graving dock on Monday.

Scansa Construction will build the two-storey main substation building at the north end of the dock — the third of four. The south has already been upgraded.

Carla Qualtrough, public services and procurement minister, gave details about the electrical upgrade, which will use money from previously announced funding for the graving dock.

“The graving dock is an incredible driver in our economy,” said Qualtrough. “That’s why the government has made a strategic investment of $175 million over the past four years to enhance the dock and ensure its long-term sustainability.”

The construction will not necessarily create new jobs, but “maintain and sustain” existing jobs, said Bingham.

Scansa will replace aging high- and low-voltage transformers and switch gear. The work is underway and is due to be completed in December. “It’s been very unsafe the way the work has been done over the last few years so these are really health and safety upgrades as well [as providing] modern electricity,” said Bingham.

The Norwegian Sun sailed into Victoria on Tuesday for a scheduled refit by Victoria Shipyards at Esquimalt Graving Dock. It is slated to pull into Ogden Point on April 20 at 7 a.m. and leave at 4 p.m. This year’s cruise ship season kicks off on April 11 when the Westerdam arrives at 1 p.m.

Another Norwegian Sun passenger, Victoria’s Cecilia Jenkins, has had a chest X-ray and blood work done since returning home.

During an interview punctuated by coughing, Jenkins said at one point she needed help because she nearly passed out from strong fumes, and also experienced nausea, headaches and swollen eyes.

Passengers should not have their health and safety put at risk, said Jenkins, who is concerned that the crew was exposed as well.

Norwegian Cruise Line did not tell them this work was going to happen or communicate with them, Jenkins said.

Multiple high-value public and private sector contracts at Victoria Shipyards means the operation’s payroll for this and the next two years will exceed $210 million in total, says its general manager.

“We are hitting a work surge,” Joe O’Rourke, vice-president and general manager, said Monday.

“It’s a good time to be in ship repair.”

The yard is at its busiest since 2012.

A hive of about 800 workers are on the job at Victoria Shipyards, a co-tenant of the publicly owned Esquimalt Graving Dock.

Numbers will top 1,000 several times this year, O’Rourke said.

Contracts totalling hundreds of millions of dollars, payrolls, hiring of local suppliers and businesses, plus spending by visiting workers will deliver a major economic impact to the capital region.

Victoria Shipyards’ own payroll will surpass $70 million this year and again in 2019 and 2020, O’Rourke said. That does not include the many private contractors who are brought in to perform a range of tasks at the yard.

Each cruise ship coming in for a refit carries its own employees and crew members, who are responsible for what’s called the “hotel” side of upgrading, such as improving cabins. For example, the Norwegian Sun brought in about 1,500 people — individuals who ride taxis into the city to see the sights and shop.

The 848-foot-long cruise ship will be here for 16 days, from April 3 to April 18, longer than the usual 10-day refit because of the scope of work.

It is in the graving dock, where it towers above the yard. More than 400 shipyard workers are busy seven days a week, working a minimum of 10-hour shifts.

From that contract alone, “there’s about a $3-million injection of wages over those 16 days being put into the economy and generated by Victoria Shipyards, which is a massive amount of money,” O’Rourke said.

"From that contract alone, “there’s about a $3-million injection of wages over those 16 days being put into the economy and generated by Victoria Shipyards, which is a massive amount of money,” O’Rourke said."

Sorry to say this, but who cares, Victoria is going flat out and everyone who is working is working. All this is going to do is pull workers away from building houses, high rises, etc

The contracts are to maintain Canada's 12 Halifax-class frigates until the end of their operational lives, estimated at another 20 years.

The government says in a statement that after consultations, it was decided the infrastructure and workforce of the three Canadian shipyards were needed to work on the frigates. It was not immediately clear how the money would be divided among the three locations.